It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact the Nichols Vikings can now relate to. They took a 59-42 bruising from the Lancers on Friday. While losing is never fun, Nichols can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 66th, while St. Mary's is ranked 15th).
Nichols lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Evelyn Walcott, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds. Walcott hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for 13 straight games. Another player making a difference was Julieta Cruz, who scored two points along with six rebounds and six steals.
Nichols struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as St. Mary's racked up 17 assists.
St. Mary's got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Kenzie Owens out in front who scored 20 points along with five rebounds. Owens continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Macey Kovach, who scored 17 points along with four steals.
This is the second loss in a row for Nichols and nudges their season record down to 15-11. As for St. Mary's, they have been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 17-8 record this season.
Nichols does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for St. Mary's, they will square off against Kennedy Catholic at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Kennedy Catholic will roll in looking for their fourth straight win, something St. Mary's surely won't give up without a fight.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
